Machine for roping straw or other vegetables



May 15, 1928. 1,669,657v

R. DUNKEL ET AL MACHINE FOR ROPING STRAW OR OTHER VEGETABLES Filed Feb. l0. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 15, 1928.

R. DUNKEL ET AL MACHINE FOR-ROPING STRAW 0R OTHER VEGETABLES Filed Feb. 1o. 192s 3 sums-sheet 2 May l5, 1928.

R. DUNKEL E-r A.

MACHINE FOR ROPING STRAW OR OTHER VEGETABLES Filed. Feb. 10. 1926 3 sheetsheet :5

Ulm

Patented May 15, 1928. i i i.

lsilva-res Brennan nennen, or GUT HARTELANGENVRWERK, AND ALBERT WILBE, or vLormrninsiine, GERMANY.

ACHIN Fon Ro'rrNG sTRw on' OTHER'VEGETABLES.

eprice-tion fried February 1go; 192e,` serial No. 87,216, :ma in eermaay Febraryie', 1925.

This invention has for its object to pio duce machine, by means of kwhich loose straw or other vegetables may be twisted so as to form a big and' compact rope. The big ropes mam'ifactured according to the invention arenot intended to serve asv binding ropes, this being impossible already with regah-df to their large diameter", but to enable theA straw or the like to he stored upand transported in this roped condition, to save spree.l In particular the object of the new machine is to'replace' the well-ltnownv uuial haie-presses, by means of which the straw or the like is pressed intoy the form of bales by nieansof binding means. An important advantage, therefore, is olf-ered'` by the new inac'hine'in that any use of binding means, for example wire, is entirely dispensed with. Thus the danger is further obviated of portions oit' such binding wires remaining in cattle food, if feed vegetables are twisted into such bales.

rllhe invention iirmly comprises means for manufacturing individual strands and means for twisting them, the latter means compri-sing a member receiving said individual strands and holding them, and being moved lengthwise and rotated about its axis.

The inventin further comprises improvements of the means fortwisting the individual strands.

The machine further shows a mechanism for cutting oft the finished product, improvedv feeding means and means fortwisting' the individual strands the roped bale consists of. ,y

Two `preferred 'embodinien-ts of the sub'- ject-mzitter of the invention are illustrated i-vayy of example in the drawings which accempany Vand forr'nvpar'tof this specification; these drawings showing machines adapted for twisting a four-strand roped bale. 1

Ori these drawings:

i sectional elevation of the first embodiment of the machine, y

Fig. 2' isV the correspondingtop view, the feeding hopper being' removed. p

Fig. 3 is a mere diagrammatic front'view,

showing thev driving' Ineals'for the cylinders twistingtue individual strands,

Fig;r 4' is a section on line IVe-'IV of Fig. A1, the main twisting cylinder' and its driving' means, i

Fig. 5 is a' section on line VV of' Fig.

1 showing the cutting mechanism for the hnished roped straw bale,

Figs. 6to 8 are sectional views-showing 1n detailv one of' the cylinders twisting the infeeding mechklower girder 3 which has mounted uponv it arack 4, see Figs. 1 and 4. A grooved shaft 5- is horizontally mounted for rotation m the "framcof the machine and constitutes the main drive shaft thereof, all the individual motions of the elements of the machine bey Said two U- iron girders 2 form the track for the wheels 6v of a carriage'which comprises the main twisting mechanism of the machine. lThis carriage has ai cylinder 7, Figs. 1 and 4L, carrying said runningv wheels 6 and two hearing eyes 8, 8 on its underside.

9 is'lodged in these eyes and has mounted A cross shaft on it a pinion 10, engaging the rack 4;. and a bevel wheel 1.1. A second bearing 12 is carried by cylinder 7, wherein a long sleeve 13 is lodged through which the grooved shaft 5 passes. the groove of .shaft 5 thus causing sleeve 125 to' rotate with shaft 5. Sleeve 13 has further ixed on it a bevel wheel 1 5 in mesh with bevel wheel 11, so that travelling motion is imparted through the parts l1', 9, 10, t to cylinderI 7 upon shaft 5. Finally, a loose spur wheel 17 and a fixed ratchet wheellt are mounted on sleeve `13, a pawl `18, engaging ratchet wheel 16 being pivoted onv spur wheel 17, sothat the latter is able tol rotate only in one direction.

vThe cylinder p surrounds a sleeve 19 adapted to rotate therein and having fixed on it a spur wheel V20 which is in mesh with said loose wheelv 17. On the inner shell surface of sleeve 1 9 are pivoted prongs 21 adapt;- ed to engagefthe Straw rope passing through sleeve19, and causing it, uponsleeve 19 ro;

Sleeve 13 has a Spline 14 engaging.

tating, to rotate with it and thus to be twisted and simultaneously drawntowards they right. lt necessary small springs may be provided in order to always press the prongs 21 towards the rope. i Y

Main shaft is driven by agear, best seen in Fig. 2 and comprising a liXed shaft 22 and four belt pulleys 23, 24,25,l v26 loosely l vmounted thereon. Pulley23is coupled with .shown in` Fig. 5.

a spur wheel '27 in`r mesh with pinion 3() .rigidon shait 5, pulley 26 is coupled with 2 and 5. On the right-hand endvofshat't 5' lined a ratchet wheel 32, o-n the extended ,hub ot ywhich runs loosely a spur wheel-33 engaging' a spur wheel 34 and having pivoted on it a pawl 332L engagingratchetwheel 32. Spur wheel `34 carries a crank tap 35 to which a `knife 36 linked. vThe other end ot lnii'te 36 is linked to a rocking lever 37 pivotcd on the l'tiainefo'li the machine, as The spur wheel 34 turther carries a lug 38, cooperating `with the `projection 39a ot the cover 39 of the delivery trough 40, as hereinafter described.

The :feeding inechanisn'i is arranged on the left-hand side of the machine, see Figs. 1, 2 and 9. lt consists ot a table 80 having tour horizontal 'feed gutters 31 into which the straw is put by hand. Above the table 3() is mounted a liiecding hopper 82 which vreceives the straw ejected by the. thrashing delivery vslot ot which machine, and the -shows a grate on each side, the bars '33 thereof alternately being rigid and flexible, always a. flexible bar ol.E one grate Afacing a I rigid bar ot' the yother grate. The object of this arrangement is to allow for the straw to very'easily be taken in the required quantity from the hopper 82 by the operators andr put into the gutters 81. i The mechanism for twisting the individual strandsis shown' in Figs. 1, 2, 3` and 6 to 3. Y

The main shaft 5` has liXed on its lelthand end a ratchet wheel 43, see Fig. 3, and

I carries loosely a spur Awheel 44 on wliich'is pivoted a pawl 44a cooperating with said ratchet wheel 43. rhe wheel 44 is in mesh with an intermediate wheel 45, rotating upon a blank shatt'452andin mesh with four pinions 46 rotating each one of the twisting cylinders 49. These cylinders 49 are made integral with said p inions' 46 and rotate in a shell 50, theshells 50 being mounted on noeste? the respective standard 1 o'fytlie machine.

The twisting cylinders 49 are substantially e the known construction. As :the usual clan'iping rollers, however, do not work satistactorily in twisting so ybig stra-nds as to be 'made by the present machine, a new ar-v rangement and configuration has been given totliese rollers, illustrated in detail in Figs. y

6 to llhese 4clamping rollersv 51 are mounted on cross axles 51a and have a double conical `shape and teeth iunningalong screw lines and being of a profile likel the teeth of a ratchet wheel. Thepitch of the screw lines is so chosen that itwill nearly meet that of the windings ot' the strands,

the roller teeth thus engaging'the gaps between the straw halms. TheaXes 51'?L of leach pair ot' rollers y51 are c 'onnectedin the vmanner shown by Fig. '8 by springs so that the rollers 51 vare powerfully.urged again-st the strand and 'clamp itrbetween them s0 'that the rotation rof cylinders 49'pistrans-V -'erredfto tliestrand and. thedesired twistingy ell'ect is secured.

Before entering the twisting*cylinders'49 the straw passes through narrowed mouth pieces 4S fixed thereon'land the object-ot which is to smooth `the straw and totalise a certain braking effect on it.` Due -totli'is braking the windings already becoinesoinen what faster between.mouth-piece 48 and roller 51 than in the" gutters 81. After leaving the twisting cylinders 49 the strands vpass a collecting piece' 72 which unites the tour strandsand makes tlieinready .to enter the main twisting sleevev 19 by the rotationv of which the final twisting into abig rope is ellected. f y e f y 1 U The described machine operates as ollows:y

it in thedirection o'l'jarrow Fig.- The The openbelt running on pulley 26 rotates l cross belt running on pulley l24 rotates the .latter in inverse direction. Pulley 26 takesl .with itpinion 29 and-sinn.' wheel13lso thatv main shaft v5 rotates in the directionfot" arrows` Fi 2. AConseiluentlv carriage 7'. 19

. 9 e L o b willtravel along-.track 2 towards ,the right ,through the intermediary of` sleeve 13, bevel f wheels 11,515 and pinion 10 and draws with it the rope, passing through sleeve 19by means vof the prongs 21. During this travel the tour strands are :dra-wn `through V:the twisting cylinders 49 andv piece 7 2 and at the same time twisted so as to form a'big rope,

by the rotation oitjsleeve 19.',thisrotation being e'tfectedvby 'thatvthe ratchet wheel 16 .mounted on sleevel rotates with they latter and vtransters, its rotation by `pawl 18 I to pinion 17 and thus to vspur wheel 20. ff As the ratchet wheel 43 mountedfon the let-handend otinai'n shaft y5 takes with it,

by pawl 44a, the-pinion 44, the' twisting"` cylinders are rotated vby gear 45, 46 andtwist the individual strands in the described 'manner. 1When'the carriage 7, lQa-pproaches the end zof its track, itstrikes in ya well-known manner a suitable ljefuer `(not shown) which changes the belt drive over so that 'the crossed belt. becomes operative.` As ally the described gears now will rotate in inverso direction, the ratchet wheels l16 andA i3 will release their paw'ls lS andk di, respectively, so that both the twisting cylinders Li9 and sleeve 19 come toy standstill. Merely pinion l engaging rack l continues to run,.bnt in inverse direction so thatl carriage 7, 19 will return to its initial position, the prongsl 2l releasing the finished rope and gliding loosely over it.

yWlhen said inverse rotation of main shaft 5 begins, pawl 33P11 engages ratchet wheel 32 thereby rotating the gear A33. 3 4. As soonas wheel 34 begins to rotate, lng 38 rises and becomes disengaged from projection, 39EL ot -clan'iping cover 39 so that thelatter falls downby action of weight 39btand' clamps `the finis-hed rope in the tnongh 40. In the furthe-r course of rotation'ofx'wheelI 34 the knife 36 is moved downwards andcnts olf that portion of thel rope which ,projects beyond the troughandk has been finished in the previous operation ,of the machine. Finally wheel 34 reaches again its position shown in F 5 lng 38 lifting cover 39 so that the rope is able `to glide unhindered over trough d0, and knife 36 assumes again its uppermost position. t

Shortly before the carriage 7, 19 vhas reached its left-hand end position, it strikes against a suitable lever (not shown.) which causes the belt drive to be changed over into forward running position. A lnew twisting operation of the machine then may begin.

'Vhile the machine hereinbefore described is preferably adapted to make roped bales of a determined length, the embodiment shown in Figs. 10 to 13 is adapted to form roned bales of any desired length.

The arrangement of the feeding hopper and gutters, of the single twisting cylinders 49 and of collecting piece 72 is the same as in the first embodiment. The device for drawing and twisting the rope. however, is formed by cylinders adapted to be moved through a drum having screw threads, and to be rotated at the same time about their This drum 53, see Figs. 10 and 11, has inside ribs 52 running in screw lines of rapid motion and :is thus adapted to draw the cylinder 63 through itself and to turn it simultaneously so that a twisting of the strands held by said cylinder 63 takes place. Three or more ofthese cylinders 63 preferablv belong to the machine. The drum 53, which forms so to say a long screw nut, has fined on its one end a spur wheel 54. the enlarged hub of which is supported by three rolls 55 mounted on the respective standard Y56 of the machine, On the other end Oi drinn 53 isiixed a ring-57 =likewisesupported by three rolils'S mounted `l`on standard 74.

Two rolls v59 are further mounted on standard 56 :against which abats the side face of land a loosebclt pulley (not shown), drives thesingle strand twisting cylinders and, by pinion 6l, the drum spur wheel 54.

v The-cylinder63, Figs. 12 and 13, is formed by two sheet-metal halvesflinked to Aone another as shown and adapted to be locked in closed positionby a bolt- 65, which has an eX- tension'65a projecting lbeyond the cylinder in the direction of forward motion thereof. Two rolls k66 mounted on the outer shell surface otv cylinder 6:3 are'adapted to run on `the ribs 5,2 of drnin 53. lProngs` 2l are'pivotallyv mounted inthe cylinder 631simai1-lar to those vof the. embodiment.

This machine operates as follows:

It maybe assumed that the machine Ihas already tignished a certain section -oifv rope and isrunning.I Then the operator takes one of the cylinders-16'3,`pn.ts it aroamd the ropefinposition L Fig. 10, and with the prongs 2l directed towards the druxnf, and closes it by bolt .Owing to another of cylinders 63 still operating within drurnl53, the first-named cylinder 63 is moved t0- w-arjds time druintogether with the rope, so that the rolls 66 engage k'the ribs 52 andthe cylinder 63 begins to ascend the ribs 52 by the rollsw6i6.. As soon' as the four strands which lare taken: with by cylinder 63, `have tcnsioned to; acertain degree, the rolls 6.6 do l.not longer ascend due to this resistance, but the ribs 52 glideaway under them, while thek cylinder63 begins to take part in the rotation of drum 53 so that ther four strands become twisted, as they must rotate too owing to the prongs 2l engaging them. Then the highest twisting effect is reached and a further twisting of the strand-sec tion in 'consideration is impossible, the cylinder 63 does not longer rotate but begins again to screw itself into drum 53 a further section of its way, taking with it a new section of untwistedstrands. When they are sntiiciently tensioned, rotation of cylinder 63 and of thestrands and twisting ofv them takes place anew.

As experience has shown, these two operations, viz., drawing-in and twisting the strands, do not take place successively, but so to say overlap each other, so that a nearly uniform forward motion of the cylinder 63 is attained.

When the cylinder 63 in question has reached the position II of Fig. 10, then the operator puts vanother cylindery 63 on the strands yat position I, this cylinder 63 then operating described, In the meantime lio lai)

the foremost cylinder approaches to position lll, the second, assuming position II beingy now the sole to twist. Vhen the foremost cylinder has reached position III, the exten- 1 sion (55L of bolt65 strikes the wall of a guidelioleGT, provided on the frame, Fig. l, thus .strands together, said device comprising a Amember adapted to receive said strands and to hold them and means for moving said member lengthwise and rotating it about its axis.

2. A machine for manufacturing ioped bales of straw or other vegetable fibers, coinpi'isingimeans for manufacturing individual strands and a device for twisting said strands together, said device comprising a hollow member having pivoted prongs to hold said strands and means for /moving said member' lengthwise and rotating `it about its axis. l

3. In a machine as lspecified in claim 1, rotatable cylinders adapted to twist the individual strands,l clamping rollers mounted on yeach of said cylinders havinga double conicalshape, clamping ribs on the shell surface of said rollers extending along screw lines of a pitch corresponding approximately to that of the threads of the strand.

t. A` machine for manufacturing roped balesof. straw or other vegetablel fibers,-co1n prising means for manufacturing individual strands, a fixed collecting 'piece for uniting said strands and a` device for twisting the strands together,said device comprising aI ineinber'movable lengthwise Vand rotatable about its axis. f

5. A machine for manufacturing roped bales of straw or other vegetable fibers, comprising means for manufacturing individual strandsand a device for twistingl said vstrands together, said device comprising a rotatable vdrum having internal screw threads and a cylinder movable along the said screw threads. y j

6. A machine foi' manufacturing roped bales of straw or other vegetable fibers, coinprising means for manufacturing individual strands and a device for twisting said strands together, said device comprising a rotatable drum having inside ribs running in screw lines and a cylinder lcarrying rollers adapted to run on the ribs of said drum.

7. Ainachine formanufacturing roped bales of straw or other vegetable fibers, comprising means for manufacturing 4individual strands and a device for 'twisting said strands together, said device comprising a rotatable drum having internal screw threads and a cylinder movable along ythe vsaid screw threads and formed by twohalves linked to one another, a bolt adaptedv to lock said halves when in -closed position, an extension on said bolt projecting beyond the cylinder inthe direction of forward motion thereof.

1n testimony whereof we have sigiiedoui` vnames to this specification. f'

ALBERT wiLnii.' RICHARD DUNKEL. 

